ALEC Disapproves of President Obama’s Decision on Keystone XL Pipeline

ALEC Disapproves of President Obama’s Decision on Keystone XL Pipeline

Washington, D.C. (January 18, 2011) — The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is disappointed in President Barack Obama’s decision today to deny the application for the Keystone XL Pipeline project. This decision is in direct opposition to ALEC’s Resolution in Support of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which was approved earlier this month by the ALEC Legislative Board of Directors.

“ALEC members understand that the Keystone XL project is vital to this nation’s energy security and is a much needed project that will bring jobs to the nation in a time of economic malaise,” said Todd Wynn, director of the Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force at ALEC.

If it had been approved, the Keystone XL Pipeline and its construction could have created 20,000 direct construction and manufacturing jobs and over 100,000 jobs indirectly. Although developers are able to reapply for a permit if the pipeline is rerouted, this will cause several more years of delay and subsequent continued economic stagnation, specifically at a time when Americans are in dire need of job creation.

“Keystone is about cost-effective, available energy to be sure, but it is also about reaffirming our partnership with Canada, our largest trading partner and an indispensable ally,” observed Representative Harold Brubaker (NC), Chair of the International and Federal Relations Task Force at ALEC.

ALEC’s resolution urges Congress to support continued and increased development and delivery of oil from Canada to the United States. ALEC believes the Keystone XL Pipeline project could “ensure America’s oil independence, improve our national security, reduce the cost of gasoline, create new jobs, and strengthen ties between the United States and Canada.”

ALEC’s resolution also notes that the United States currently depends on foreign imports for more than half of its petroleum usage and the nation’s dependence on overseas oil has created difficult geopolitical relationships with potentially damaging consequences for our national security.

The Keystone XL project is a proposed $7 billion, nearly 1,700-mile, 36-inch crude oil pipeline that will stretch from the oil sands in Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast and would deliver more than 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Canada, Montana, the Dakotas, Oklahoma and Texas to Gulf Coast refineries.

ALEC policies, resolutions and model bills are approved by our legislative members and are a result of nonpartisan research and analysis.

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The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation’s largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators, with over 2,000 state legislators across the nation and more than 100 alumni members in Congress. ALEC’s mission is to promote free markets, individual liberty, and federalism.